Knitlandia or I Read a Book

I know I am trying to get credit for something I should do anyway, but I read a book this week.  I rarely read anymore, if I can't get it on audio I normally just don't read a book.  This week I made an exception, I purchased and read Knitlandia: A Knitter Sees the World by Clara Parkes.  I had heard she had a new book out by the fine knitters over on the Mason/Dixon Knitting blog (http://www.masondixonknitting.com/things-we-love/books-we-love/rule-knitlandia/).  Ann and Kay have never steered me wrong, so I made it a point to buy the book, as in a real open the cover and turn the pages kind of book.  Parkes already has some of my bookshelf real estate with her The Knitter's Book of Yarn  and The Knitter's Book of Socks, surely I could make room for another book by her.  Both of her other books made me think about the technical side of yarn taking me a step beyond my usual questions about yarn, is it green and is it soft.  I appreciated the education and still utilize the yarn book from time to time.  Intrigued by her travelogue in the world of knitters I dragged out the debit card and as soon as I got the book home I started reading. 

Parkes does not write with the marathon prose of Stephen King or Tolstoy.  In fact her prose is compact and direct which made for a quick read, which I appreciated.  Yet, her stories of festivals, conferences, and sock summits abound with kniterati and sparking dream locations.  I mean of course I want to see Edinburgh, Paris, and Iceland, but now I want to see those places from a yarny perspective.  Parkes allowed me to enjoy her adventures while safely sitting on my futon drinking hot tea.  I devoured the book and immediately went to the internet to check on prices to flights to Iceland.  If only I had the time and the money, I would be on the next available flight to Reykjavik.   Okay, maybe I would wait for spring.

One of the things I took away from Knitlandia was how amazing it is to read about a woman who has in fact as she says, "I was simply following my heart .  Which as it turns out, is the best way to do it."  How inspiring and wonderful, women can find success in the world of fiber.  I can only recommend the book to my knitting friends and wish Parkes continued success living her dream.

Sweet Hitchhiker

Knitters are just like any other group, when friends knit a pattern we often find ourselves wanting to knit it too.  The Hitchhiker by Martina Behm is one of those pattern up there with the Clapotis (yup knit 2 of those) and the Central Park Hoodie (not yet) for knit popularity.  I checked on Ravelry.com and the Hitchhiker has been queued 22,541 times.  The pattern runs about 500 yards of yarn per finished project, if you do the math on that it is over 6000 miles of yarns or about the distance between St Louis MO and Hawaii, but I digress. 

I wanted to knit a Hitchhiker for myself.  I had bought the yarn for the project on the yarn crawl last summer and I just need to do it.  With all the holiday knitting and crocheted owls done, it was time to knit that Hitchhiker.  I used a brightly colored DK weight cotton yarn and size 6 needles. I found after awhile I got a little addicted to knitting the points on the pattern. The pattern calls for 42 points or teeth on one edge of the pattern. (For the Douglas Adams fans out there, yes both the pattern name and the number of points are in reference to The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.)  As is often the case, I knit mine large and added a few extra teeth, because I had the yarn.

Rocking my Hitchhiker

After I started on mine I decided Natalie needed to knit one too, because that is what we knitters do, share a fun pattern.  We also have a friend getting ready to move to Minnesota and I thought she could use a warm neck wrap.  I knew I had some old school Dyeabolical yarn in a fun green and black color way which would be perfect for this pattern.  Pretty much I said knit this pattern with this yarn and Natalie did.  Both Hitchhikers turned out great, but it is amazing how much different they are.  Mine is a little largish and her Hitchhiker is a little smallish, but both are fabulous.

Natalie's Black & Green Hitchhiker

You would think I would be done with the Hitchhiker, but no, not me.  I actually can't wait to knit up another.  However, right now I have moved on to a large green poncho.  I don't think I can convince Natalie one of those, but you never know.

Apathy

I don't really care for sports.  It could be a lack of athleticism on my part or just plain apathy, I don't really know.  That said, if you like sports, please don't berate me for my apathetic opinion.  Please love your sports and let me not love them.  I will find something else to do while you watch the superbowl.

Now if knitting were a sport I might have to buy season tickets.

Jury Duty

I spent Monday and Tuesday at jury duty.  I really dislike jury duty.  I spent 2 days contemplating why I feel so passionate about jury duty.  I think it is because the lawyers are allowed to ask personal questions and you are expected to reveal to a room full of strangers your private thoughts.  In many ways I felt like I was on trial.  However, after 2 days I was released, unpicked for actual service on a jury. Glad to be able to get back to work in the jail.

Birthday Tea at LTR

Today is my baby sister's birthday and she requested tea.  There was only one real destination for a birthday tea, The London Tea Room (http://www.thelondontearoom.com/index.html).  We love the LTR and have celebrated many things within the walls of this establishment.  Maybe it is the good tea or maybe the scones or maybe it has become a tradition with us, who knows, but today for baby sister's birthday we arrived ready to celebrate. 

I will always celebrate the birth of someone I love so deeply.  The last thing I expected at 20 was another sister, but fate gave me a second chance at a sibling and I am lucky to have the bonus sibling.  Part of the problem is I dislike the siblings I grew up with.  I have tried over the years to fix the differences between my other siblings and myself, but some things are just too broken and I am human after all,  I can forgive, but I am incapable of forgetting.  Baby sister gave me the opportunity to start with a clean slate not marred with pain and for that I will always be grateful.  She challenges me to stay connected to someone a generation younger than I am, and for that I am also grateful.

The day of her birth I was with her birth mother up until the moment of her arrival.  I fled unable to bring myself to witness the miracle of life.  I regret that choice, wishing I could go back and be there when baby sister made her entrance into the world.  I remember she was small, redheaded, beautiful, and loud when we meet for the first time.  It would take my parents 3 years, several legal hoops, and a chunk of change to get through the process of adopting my baby sister, but know she was ours from the beginning.

Being the much older sister comes with lots of responsibilities and sometimes I am not always up to challenge, but I am also lucky that Natalie took up the challenge too.  She has also supplemented the big sister duties with her own brand of love and practicality. Baby sister has always known that Natalie was my partner and spouse and for her this meant more love.

I am not trying to say everything is always perfect, but know having a much younger baby sister goes on my list of things that make my life (most of the time that is) more.  So to my baby sister I wish her a wonder birthday and I look forward to sharing many more birthdays with her.

Supported

Had a tough week at work.  Actually, work has become stressful.  It always amazes me how one bad co-worker can truly f*** up a work environment.  Anyway, I asked for help from my boss and he not only helped, but gave me an inspiring pep talk. I almost cried from the support.  As I look at my up coming 3 year anniversary at the jail, I do not regret changing jobs.  A good boss is worth everything to me, everything but winning the lottery, that is.

Hat Season

Knitted Slouchy Hat with Color Changing Flowers

I have been knitting a lot of hats lately. I think it is because it is hat season, or maybe I just wanted to knit up a few patterns that caught my fancy. I have found hats to be one of the most difficult things to get right and I have complained about them before (http://tempestinapot.blogspot.com/2012/02/epic-knitting-failure-or-29th-of.html).  It is always the band I have a hard time getting right, they are either too tight or mostly too loose.  I have gotten smarter using a smaller size needle than the pattern suggests, which helps, but I still jokingly call them hates.

The Lovely Leana Hat

2 of the 3 turned out better than expected, but one require some extra effort on my part.  The Jacques Cousteau hat (https://www.dropbox.com/s/y8op4ctr9gip44c/JC%20Hat.pdf?dl=0) was a straight forward ribbed hat, which knitted up really nice once I got the gauge right.  The Cousteau hat was gifted to a friend and I am hoping it is keeping his head warm.  The Leana hat was knitted up with this great yarn called Leana by Schachenmayr.  I love how it striped up and the band is perfect on this hat.  I kind of love how this hat looks on me.  The third hat was a pattern I picked up on the yarn crawl last summer at the Bead Place in Illnois.  The gimmick with this knitted slouchy hat is the crocheted flowers turn colors.

Jacques Cousteau Hat

The knitted slouchy hat was a little bit of a challenge.  The band had a weird construction which included a hem and was still too loose.  Some carefully placed elastic made the band fit.  The original pattern had one crocheted flower, but I had enough yarn and crocheted 2 more.  The flowers with the buttons made the hat kind of heavy, but again the elastic did the trick.  I feel kind of over the top in the hat, but you know what I kind of like that feeling.

Crochet Flowers Turn Lavender in the Sunlight